Frank Bessem's Musiques d'Afrique

African Music Compilations:African Mosaïc (Syllart)

Introduction

Ibrahima Sory Sylla set up his label in 1981 with artists such as Ismael Lo, Bopol, Gnonnas Pedro and Alpha Blondy, and steadily his
catalogue grew to unknown dimensions. With periods of alternating high and low activity, Syllart Productions remained a stronghold of,
mainly, but not exclusively, West African music. Apart from several hundreds of cassettes for the African market, Syllart
was at the origin of (international) successes such as Salif Keita's Soro album, Kékélé, Africando and
the Mandekalou projects.
Ibrahima Sylla, who suffered from diabetis, died in December 2013. His wife, and his daughter Bineta Sylla took over and continue with a new company,
Syllart Records.

The African Mosaïc series offers an overview of popular music of recent years, although
concentrated on Syllart's back catalogue (West Africa, Congo and African salsa).